RECENT NEWS

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Two in three severely obese children already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, new research shows. The study findings revealed 67% of 307 severely obese children had at least one risk factor for heart disease.

The latest research has shown that giving polypills to people aged over 50 can help to reduce blood cholesterol and blood pressure – two common risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.

People with dementia are facing wide variations in the time it takes to receive a diagnosis, an influential group of MPs and peers have revealed.

The risk of a heart attack may be increased shortly after total hip or knee replacement surgery, according to research. A Danish study followed patients who had undergone joint replacement surgery.

NHS staff had a sickness absence rate of 4.12% in 2011/12 – slightly lower than in the previous two years.

Bowel cancer patients whose disease was found through screening have a better chance of beating their disease than those diagnosed after developing symptoms, new research shows.

Birmingham researchers have shown that a specialised drug prescribing system could help prevent a repetition of the notorious 2002 killings of elderly patients by nurse Colin Norris.

NICE has published the first menu of 44 new proposed indicators recommended by the Commissioning Outcomes Framework (COF) Advisory Committee.

The National Audit Office has published a report highlighting key trends and variations in the delivery of healthcare across the four nations of the UK.

The new chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has been confirmed as Mark Addison.

Giving antibiotics before cesarean section surgery rather than just after the newborn’s umbilical cord is clamped cuts the infection rate at the surgical site in half, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

There are over 80 hospitals in England and Wales that do not have the specialist diabetes foot care teams that are widely recognised as being important for preventing diabetesrelated amputations.

A chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commissioning toolkit has been published by the DH.

Cataract surgery may reduce the risk of accidents and injuries such as hip fracture, according to a new study undertaken in the US which found that older people who underwent surgery to improve their vision were less likely to suffer a hip fracture over the following 12-month period.

Astra Tech HealthCare, a provider of consumable medical devices within urology and surgery, has changed its name to Wellspect HealthCare.

A new scheme, funded by the Government and charitable organisations, will see an investment of around £19 million to create four ‘e-Health research Centres of Excellence’ being established in London, Manchester, Dundee and Swansea.

NICE has published a set of new proposed indicators for the 2013/14 Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). This scheme, which is run by the Department of Health, focuses on driving up the quality of care.

People with neurological conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease are being neglected by the NHS, according to a report by an alliance of charities representing patients. .

Research from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) identified 394 surgical site infections among 4,107 women followed up after a caesarean section operation (9.6%). The majority of these infections were minor (88%) and the risk was found to be higher in overweight or obese women, according to findings published in the British Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.